


Nothing is More Moe than Cat Ears!

by luckystars1015



Category: Gintama
Genre: A/B/O, Alternate Universe, Angst, Cat Ears, Comedy, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Joui War AU, M/M, See Notes about Age, Story is more serious than title suggests, Teacher-Student Relationship, Underage sexual content, slight age gap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 12:16:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19723504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckystars1015/pseuds/luckystars1015
Summary: Hijikata is an abomination. He's half-human, half-Amanto living on the streets like a stray cat. Ostracized no matter where he goes, he has given up hope and struggles to survive during the height of the Joui War.Enter Gintoki.





	Nothing is More Moe than Cat Ears!

**Author's Note:**

> BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME! Surprise! Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth, but life happened and I just had to take a step back.
> 
> This work would have not been able to see the light of day without my wonderful Beta, so let's give them a round of applause!
> 
> \------- 
> 
> Notes about age since there will be underage sexual content
> 
> Hijikata is 14 years old at the beginning of the fic. Gin is 18-ish years old (since his age is never confirmed in canon)
> 
> During sex scene, Hiji is 16 years old and Gin is 20-ish years old

Hijikata gagged as the smell of death hit his nostrils, eyes watering due to the pungency. He held his breath nonetheless, or else he'd have to perish, too. His fingers dug through bloodied rags for any scraps he could sell or eat. His skin crawled as his nails scratched at the corpses’ rotting flesh. 

Disgusting. Disgusting. _Disgusting._ But it wasn’t as disgusting as him. What kind of sick, revolting creature would resort to digging through corpses for survival? But his stomach was one missed meal away from caving in on itself.

Hijikata Toshiro was never supposed to exist. He was an abomination, a half-breed. His parents found love in a place where there shouldn’t have been any. His father was a cat Amanto, sent to crush the samurai beneath his feet. But when he had lost all hope, fighting for a war he no longer saw the meaning in, he met Hijikata’s mother, a woman from a samurai family who was as kind as she was beautiful. They lived in secret, hidden far from the battlefields. 

But bad luck found them. It always did. 

Hijikata had few memories of his father. The cat Amanto could never blend in and was killed on his way home by two rogue samurai out for alien blood. 

He and his mother lived in a secluded forest within reasonable distance from a small village. Those were the best years of Hijikata’s young life. His mother would bring the villagers’ clothes every afternoon and he would help her wash them in the river. They led meager lives, barely scraping by day to day, yet they were satisfied. But good things never lasted for the two of them. 

News had reached the village that Amanto were hiding among them. Driven by fear and anger, the villagers formed a mob and marched into the forest. Hidden in the bushes, Hijikata watched helplessly as the horde of faceless people ransacked his home. It was an absolute slaughter. They hadn’t even spared his mother, who was one of them. 

Hijikata had fled within an inch of his life. He had run and run until his legs gave out. He had reached the edge of the war and had hidden amongst the hills of dead Amanto and samurai alike. 

That was three years ago. Hijikata was now fourteen summers young and he felt like he had already lived a lifetime. The boy didn’t know who to hate: his Amanto blood for tearing his home apart, or his human heritage for destroying everything he loved. He couldn’t decide, so he chose to despise his whole self. 

He could never be accepted into either species. He looked too human to be considered Amanto and one feature separated him from ever blending in with mankind. Well, two features. 

Black cat ears stuck out of Hijikata’s hair and a matching tail protruded from his tailbone. The tail he could easily keep hidden by wrapping around his waist. As for the ears, they served as a constant reminder of why people would run screaming if they ever caught a glimpse. Since being orphaned, he had taken to wearing a dark cloak with a hood, another item stolen from a corpse, to hide his feline features. As a child, he loved his cat ears. It was his mother’s favorite part to kiss before she tucked him into bed. His father, a man of few words, would scratch him behind his cat ears as a show of affection. 

  


He was snapped out of his muse when his fingers felt the cold of metal and something akin to joy surged through him. A samurai’s sword was one of the most valuable items one could scavenge from the battlefield. The nation was using more iron than it was producing, so metal for non-war efforts was extremely scarce. If he could find a blacksmith to sell the sword to, he could make enough money to eat for a week!

He grunted in exertion, pulling the weapon with all his might. When he finally ripped the sword from the cold, dead hands of the corpse, he let out a yelp of victory. 

This proved to be a mistake. Without warning, a strong hand yanked Hijikata up by the collar. His body curled into itself, clutching the sword to his chest in fear. His squeezed his eyes shut and his cat ears flattened against his skull.

“Oi, oi. What do we have here?”

When Hijikata cautiously opened his eyes, he genuinely thought an angel had descended to Earth to take him away. The mysterious stranger’s hair was like fresh-fallen snow. A white haori billowed around his upper half, reminiscent of wings preparing to take flight. But when the small boy met the burning red eyes of the figure, he changed his mind. This was not the kind of angel to take him to a paradise. This was an angel of death. 

A low growl rumbled in his throat as he glared defiantly at the stranger. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight. 

The red-eyed man swept his gaze over Hijikata’s figure and settled for staring at the flattened cat ears on the other’s head. 

“What’s an Amanto doing in a place like this?”

“I’m not just an Amanto! I’m a samurai, too!” Hijikata shot back indignantly. Because his father had died so early and had left his human wife to raise him, he had always felt more human than alien growing up on Earth. His mother would often tell him grand tales of courage and perseverance of the great warrior class she was a part of. Hijikata looked up the samurai and desperately wished to be one himself. 

At the proclamation, the white-clad figure widened his ruby eyes, a mixture of disbelief and amazement visible in them. That was the last thing he’d expected from this feline pipsqueak. 

Sensing that the stranger had lowered his guard, Hijikata brandished his claws and swiped at his face, hissing as he dropped to the ground. Still clutching the sword for dear life, he bolted into the forest bordering the clearing.

—

Sakata Gintoki didn’t know what to make of the small bundle he just found. He had gone to the battlefield in search of swords to recycle for the war effort. The last thing he expected to find was a child. 

This little furball claiming to be a samurai baffled Gintoki. He’d thought he had seen everything in his years at war. For as long as he could remember, Amanto and samurai were at each other’s throats. He’d never thought he’d find proof that humans and aliens could coexist in his lifetime. Gin couldn’t believe that the little bastard got the better of him, taking advantage of his lowered guard to escape. With his natural instincts, maybe there was some samurai blood in this Amanto kid after all. 

The kid was a fool, though, to think he could outrun the White Demon. His keen eyes caught movement between the trees. 

_Got him._

The silver soldier caught up to and barreled into his target without remorse. Gintoki made sure there was no chance of escape this time. Ridding the Amanto of any chance to fight back, he kicked the boy’s stolen sword out of reach. He wrestled the boy to the ground, sitting on his legs and grabbing both of the brat’s skinny arms to pin them down above his head. 

_Man_ , he thought. _This kid needs to eat_. He could practically feel the bones jutting out of his thin body. 

Realizing that it was futile to struggle after a minute or two, the boy finally simmered down, choosing to stubbornly glare at Gintoki. 

“What were you doing stealing from a corpse?”

“Figure it out! I needed to eat!” His stomach decided to prove that point with an audible growl. Hijikata blushed in embarrassment despite himself. This complete stranger kept catching Hijikata at his worst moments. 

Gintoki almost laughed despite it all. Here was a kid who was obviously in way over his head by challenging the White Demon, yet he did so anyway, equipped with only a sharp tongue. 

The white samurai released his hold on the boy. He rummaged through his armor and produced a small loaf of bread. It was his only meal for the day, but he threw it over to the boy. 

“Eat it,” he commanded. The brat looked at it like it was poisoned. “Eat it or I’ll shove it down your throat.”

Hijikata took a small, tentative bite, but his hunger got the best of him and he was soon wolfing it all down, not even taking the time to chew. 

“What’s your name?” Gintoki asked as he examined the weird brat. 

“Hijikata Toshiro,” the boy mumbled with a mouth full of food. 

“Sakata Gintoki.

“How old are you?”

“Fourteen. What about you?”

“Not sure, maybe around eighteen?” 

Hijikata gave him an odd look, neither expecting the vague answer nor the fact that this warrior was so young. Was he perhaps an orphan like Hijikata? 

“So what’s with the cat ears? Are you trying for a moe look?”

Hijikata didn’t even bother with trying to figure out what the hell “moe” meant, his gut telling him it was offensive was enough. 

“I’m…a half-breed. My mom was a human, and my dad was an Amanto,” the boy closed his eyes and turned away, expecting backlash. A strike or some other reaction borne from disgust. But all that came out of Gintoki’s mouth was a slight whistle. 

“So it’s possible for an Amanto and human to do it? Never would have guessed considering how much we’re at each other’s throats.”

Hijikata made a move to lunge at Gintoki for such a crude statement but the soldier easily caught his clawed hand in a much larger one. 

“Hey, I’m not nice enough to let my face get scratched twice,” he said as he gestured to the red claw marks on his cheek. Gintoki released Hijikata and gave him a look, daring the boy to try something like that again. The Amanto halfling simmered back down, feeling a bit guilty for trying to attack Gintoki again after he had shown him such kindness. 

The silver-haired soldier looked at Hijikata’s small figure and for a moment, an image of his past self transposed onto the cat-eared boy. _Corpse-Eating Demon_ , the villagers had called him. He had been in Hijikata’s shoes not too long ago, pillaging corpses for survival. 

“Come with me” the words fell past Gintoki’s lips before he could think. 

“What?! Why?” the boy was astounded by the offer. There had to be a catch. 

“Someone’s gotta teach you how to use that sword, right?” the samurai eyed the forgotten sword next to them. 

“Why would you want to help me?” Hijikata inquired, his tone laced with suspicion. 

“Because you remind me of someone.”

“And who’s that?”

“Me,” Gintoki stood up and walked off, not bothering with turning around to see if Hijikata would follow. 

He didn’t have to. 

His ears caught the telltale sign of soft footsteps behind him. 

—

Hijikata didn’t know what made him decide to follow this mind-boggling soldier. What kind of a person attacked someone in one moment only to feed them in the next?!

Only the sound of footfall filled the awkward silence as Gintoki led the smaller boy to what might be his death. After a while, Hijikata’s keen cat ears caught the sound of voices from beyond the forest. 

When they reached the edge of the foliage, Hijikata’s eyes widened at the sight before him. It was a field filled with tents as far as the eye could see. Was this the rebel division fighting the Amanto? He had heard whispers of the army through his travels but never imagined them to be this big. 

Gintoki suddenly turned around and reached over to pull Hijikata’s hood over his head to hide his feline features. “If you want to stay here, make sure you hide the fact that you’re an Amanto. The men here will tear you apart if you don’t.”

Hijikata grew nervous, not particularly wanting to walk into a camp full of soldiers out for his blood. Noticing his hesitation, Gintoki assured his new ward, “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The boy was about to quip back something sarcastic to hide his fear but when he met the steadfast gaze of the red-eyed samurai, his worries ebbed away, somehow comforted by the eyes that had once struck fear in him. 

His heart racing in apprehension, Hijikata couldn’t help but reach forward to clutch at the silver-haired samurai’s hakama. Whether or not Gintoki felt the tug at his waist, he made no mention of it.

As they made their way through the camp, several soldiers stopped to bow and pay their respects to the silver-haired man. A chorus of “Sakata-sama” greeted the two as they walked past them. The soldiers looked at the ambiguous figure of Hijikata with questioning eyes, but Gintoki made no move to acknowledge them. 

Hijikata was confused. Why were they showing Gintoki such respect? The halfling’s confusion only grew when they reached the biggest tent of the camp. This perm head _had_ to be an important figure.

Gintoki drew up the flap at the entrance to reveal a furnished tent—well, as much as a rebel army with limited funds could afford to furnish. The floor wasn’t dirty but had straw mats that could be rolled up, which provided for easy transportation. The centerpiece was a low table with a large map and several pieces atop it. Hijikata surmised that military strategies were planned here, which meant that Gintoki truly was an important figure . 

Unbelievable. Still taking everything in, Hijikata hadn’t noticed Gintoki moving him towards the edge of the room where a large metal tub sat full of clean water. The perm head shoved him forward. 

“Go take a bath. You reek.”

Hijikata blushed in hot embarrassment. Did he have to be so rude about it? Waiting for Gintoki to turn around, he reluctantly took off his tattered cloak and yukata. He almost fainted when he got a full whiff of them. It had been so long since he had the luxury of washing his clothes, much less taking a bath. He stepped into the cold water and hissed, his bones quivering. Although the feline part of him hated baths, the same part loved being clean, so he soldiered on. Dunking his head in the water and relishing in the chill wrapping around his body, he didn’t notice Gintoki leave the tent. 

After a while of fumbling with the little soap he had, he finally felt like a decent human again and not some grimy beast lurking bloody battlefields. 

Suddenly, the flap opened again. Hijikata let out a squeamish yelp before ducking back down into the tub. When he peeked his head out of the water like a little kappa, he discovered it to be Gintoki. 

“Don’t worry about anyone other than me walking in. I have the tent this week since I won at Janken” Gintoki said, not taking the opportunity to tease Hijikata for his high-pitched squeal. “Oogushi-kun, I got spare clothes from some soldier.”

“My name isn’t Oogushi-kun! It’s Hijikata!” the boy yelled, aggravated by how fast the silver-haired samurai had forgotten his name. 

“You sound just like Zura.”

Not knowing who that was, Hijikata ignored him and got out to towel himself dry. Putting on the clothes, he found that the top was a bit big on him and that it revealed his chest. Gintoki made a noise of annoyance and went over to fix the boy’s clothes. He finished the outfit by placing a simple black hat atop Hijikata’s head, effectively hiding his ears. 

Hijikata’s cheeks grew hot. It had been so long since he felt such closeness to another human being. He looked down at his new outfit. 

“I look like your personal errand boy.”

“That’s because you are.”

Hijikata harrumphed in annoyance, “I thought you were going to teach me how to fight!”

“And how do you intend to pay for those lessons?” Gintoki quipped back, raising a challenging eyebrow. 

The halfling had nothing to say to that. Even he knew he had to earn his keep if Gintoki was offering him shelter. Hijikata opened his mouth to call his new mentor, but felt like “you” would be too rude. 

“S-Sakata-sama…” Hijikata tried, rolling his name on his tongue. It felt too weird––like he was trying to digest a rock.

“Ugh. Don’t call me that. I get enough as it is from the soldiers. Gintoki’s fine.” 

Even saying that in his mind was weird. His mother had taught him the importance of hierarchy in samurai culture. Calling his new samurai mentor by his first name felt almost sacrilegious. 

“Gin-sama, then,” the boy compromised. 

Gintoki looked at him wordlessly but made no move to correct him. He felt that the boy was too stubborn to try and change, and he didn’t feel all that bothered by the name. 

“Come on, Oogushi-kun, let’s meet everyone else.”

By then, the sun had dipped beneath the horizon. Hijikata couldn’t believe that so much time had passed since he first laid eyes on Gintoki. His life had changed so much in mere moments. Yesterday, hunger was clawing at his insides and he was barely hanging onto life. 

Now, he was about to eat dinner with a bunch of soldiers that may or may not kill him if they discovered his secret. Hijikata stood close by Gintoki as they made introductions. 

Gintoki gestured to a man with long, dark hair. “This is Zura.”

“It’s not Zura! It’s Katsura!” the man yelled back, clearly annoyed. 

“See. You sound just like him,” Gintoki whispered to Hijikata. Hijikata felt like this wasn’t the first time Gintoki messed with someone’s name and it wouldn’t be the last. 

“And the brooding one over there is Takasugi.”

Hijikata made eye contact with a soldier that spared him only a glance. Somehow, the black-haired boy felt that he was regarding him with the same look he would give insects. This Takasugi fellow made him feel unnerved. Hijikata couldn’t help but take a step behind Gintoki to shield himself. 

The small boy was suddenly lifted up by two large hands. A booming voice behind him yelled, “Where did you find this little mouse, Gintoki?” The irony was not lost to the pair who knew of Hijikata’s secret.

“Oi, oi. Put him down, Sanosuke. He’s about to throw up on you,” the silver samurai said as he took Hijikata back from the soldier. Hijikata’s feet touched the ground again and his eyes almost rolled back into his head when he tried to look at the gargantuan samurai behind him. He looked like he held the strength of an entire army in one fist. 

A voice called out from the campfire. “Hey, the curry is ready! First come, first served!” Upon hearing this, several dozen soldiers almost stampeded over Hijikata to get to the campfire. But he felt a warm hand reach out to him and pulled him along. He glanced up to see soft, white hair and for the first time in a long while, a spark of joy lit up his heart. 

––––––––––––––––––––––––

The sound of soldiers outside the tent roused Hijikata from his slumber. He lifted himself from the straw mat and stretched his back. A figure stirring near him caught the corner of the young boy’s eyes. 

‘What kind of general doesn’t wake up at the crack of dawn?’ Hijikata thought, judging the sad excuse of a samurai. He moved to wake up his new mentor , but the morning had other plans for him. 

The young ward shook his mentor’s shoulders. “Gin-sama. Gin-sama. Wake up, it’s time to--” Red eyes flashing wide open, Gintoki grabbed Hijikata’s wrist and flipped their positions, pinning Hijikata to the ground. Moving on instinct alone, the silver samurai hadn’t noticed what he was doing until he himself finally woke up. 

Hijikata’s cat ears were pressed flat against his head in a sign of submission. The white-haired man quickly released the young boy. “S-sorry,” he wiped his face, ridding the sleep from his eyes. “I’m not used to waking up with somebody.”

“N-no. It’s okay. I shouldn’t have tried waking you up like that,” was Hijikata’s meek reply. 

Once they were both dressed, they made their way out the tent. A soldier in full armor bumped into them. The man took his hat off and greeted Gintoki. He looked a little worn out what with dirt and blood coating his uniform. 

“Sakamoto. Looks like you just got back from your mission. How’d you do?”

The man named Sakamoto grinned cheekily through the dried blood, keeping one eye shut. “You should see the other guys.” They both smirked and shook hands like brother-in-arms. Finally, Sakamoto noticed the small figure stuck to Gintoki’s side. “Oh, hello there. The other soldiers told me about you. Are you Kintoki’s new boy toy?” 

While Hijikata knew the meaning of the words separately, he had never heard of such a phrase before. He pulled Gintoki’s white sleeve to get his attention. 

“Gin-sama, what’s a ‘boy toy?’” he asked, looking up at Gintoki like the young and innocent summer child he was.

Gintoki’s face remained passive. Ignoring the question, he instead said, “Hijikata, you have my full permission to kick this idiot in the balls whenever you see him.”Then Gintoki did just that, landing a swift kick between the poor man’s legs. He went down like a tree, unable to even scream through the pain. The perm head soldier walked away with his very confused ward in tow. 

——

The pair stood in a deserted, grassy field, staring off into the distance. Gintoki turned around to face Hijikata and, before the younger boy could notice, placed his hands on the cat ears and flattened them. He inwardly marveled at their softness.

“Do you think you can hide them?”

“What?” replied the young Amanto halfling, taken aback. 

“I mean, you’re half-human, right? Maybe you can call on your human blood to make them disappear or something, even temporarily.”

Hijikata was baffled by such a concept. It sounded a lot easier said than done. 

“Consider it the start of your samurai training,” Gintoki said. “Just think of yourself as a hard-boiled egg. Your body is just a shell, but it’s the inside—your soul, your yolk, the thing that makes you who you are—that’s the important part.”

That… made no sense. 

“Go and meditate,” commanded Gintoki as he took off his haori to place it on the ground as a makeshift bed. 

“What?! I thought you took me out here to train!”

“I did. But you’re still too weak to do any exercise. You probably can’t even swing a sword without your bones snapping in two. Get stronger and then I’ll teach you something.”

Hijikata grumbled and sat cross-legged on the grass in an attempt to meditate. He knew Gintoki was right, but his blood was roaring to fight. To prove himself. 

Soft snores could be heard coming from his master. Hijikata refocused his efforts, trying to spiritually embody the form of an egg. 

—

  


After lunch, Gintoki sent Hijikata to the clinical tent for some first-aid training. 

“Stay here ‘til dinner and learn something worthwhile,” Gintoki commanded before ditching Hijikata in a tent full of bleeding and groaning strangers. 

“Hope you learn fast, boy, cuz we need all the extra hands we can get,” the head doctor said. 

Hijikata examined his surroundings. The beds were filled with soldiers wrapped in casts and bandages,moaning in pain. He quickly began following the instructions of the doctor. Before he realized it, the sun had set and evening was upon them.

Dinner was much like the night before, with Hijikata preferring to watch in silence next to Gintoki as soldiers laughed and shared stories over the campfire. 

This was the routine for the rest of the week. Hijikata hated to admit it, but he was starting to enjoy having a schedule and know what to expect every day. This was worlds away from fleeing through villages, digging around for scraps like the stray cat he was. After a while, he began to suspect that the morning meditation sessions were more for Gin to sleep in, but eventually, his master deemed Hijikata fit enough for light exercise. 

It wasn’t until the tenth day that his routine was suddenly upturned. It started with Gintoki waking up earlier than Hijikata for once. 

“Hey,” the soldier whispered to the still-sleepy boy, “I’m going to be gone for the day. I should be back by sundown.”

In his drowsiness, Hijikata forgot to bid his master farewell. He spent the rest of the day worrying about Gintoki, despite not wanting to. He felt off the whole time, not used to being apart from him for this long. Had he gotten that used to the silver-haired idiot’s presence?

When the sun had long since disappeared beneath the horizon, Gintoki finally returned, stumbling into the tent half-dead. 

“Sorry,” Gintoki pushed out through his exhaustion, “ran into a few issues on our mission.” His limbs could no longer carry him and his body met the ground with a resounding thump. 

“Fucking ninjas,” he finished under his breath. 

“Gin-sama!” Hijikata cried out in worry.He ran to pull Gintoki up into a sitting position against a wooden pole holding the tent up. 

“Why aren’t you at the medic tent?!” Hijikata yelled indignantly. 

“The others need it more. I’m lucky to get away with this many wounds.”

Hijikata didn’t even want to imagine what happened to Gintoki’s comrades if he came back with slashes all over his body. Quickly grabbing the first aid kit and mentally calling upon what he’d learned from the doctor, he gingerly removed the top half of his master’s clothing. 

The deepest cut was on Gintoki’s right shoulder and needed stitches. The young boy took out a needle and thread from the first-aid kit. His hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t even thread the needle. Gintoki held Hijikata’s hands in his own and carefully guided the needle over a candle to sterilize it. 

“It’s okay. You can do this,” Gintoki’s steady voice calmed Hijikata’s nerves enough to thread the needle. 

Hijikata nodded, still squeamish.This was his first time stitching someone up, having only stood by the doctor and observed him before. Using water to wipe the dirt and clotted blood away, and alcohol to disinfect the wound, he began sewing the deep gash shut. 

To distract himself from the pain, Gintoki focused on his ward’s face deep in concentration. The usual furrow in his brows grew more prominent and Gintoki would have teased him for it was laughing not so painful. 

Hijikata operated at a slow and painstaking pace. He finished with a sigh of relief and moved onto the next gash. The cut on Gintoki’s stomach wasn’t deep enough to need stitches so he cleaned it and wrapped bandages several times around his mentor’s abdomen. 

From the chest up were several shallow cuts. Seeing the question in the boy’s eyes, Gintoki simply said, “Kunai.” 

Without warning, the boy spit on a cut. Gintoki, completely surprised and very annoyed that the boy would do such a thing, smacked him upside the head. 

“Why the fuck did you just spit on me?! Is that how you show your thanks?!”

“Can you not throw punches at the slightest provocation?! I did that to heal you!”

“Wh—?” The sting from one of Gintoki’s chest wounds disappeared. Curious, he used his fingers to smear the saliva across another shallow wound and it, too, disappeared. Not even a scar remained. 

“My saliva can disinfect and heal small wounds,” Hijikata explained. “It’s the Amanto blood in me. How do you think I haven’t died of infection yet?”

Again without warning, Hijikata drew closer, sitting on his knees between Gintoki’s thighs. He closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue and began licking at Gintoki’s wounds. 

“This is the most efficient way since I’ve always done it like this,” Hijikata explained, not entirely conscious of the fact that he was literally licking his master’s body right now, nor the effect he was having on the man. 

Gintoki steeled himself as he felt Hijikata’s tongue drag across his chest. Although he knew how inappropriate it was, he couldn’t stop the heat from pooling in his stomach. Before today, he’d never even thought of the young boy’s tongue, but now all he could focus on was how soft and smooth it was. He assumed it’d be rough like a cat’s tongue, but like the rest of Hijikata, it was a total surprise. 

A lick in the groove of his collarbones drew out a hiss of pleasure from Gintoki. Did this brat understand what he was doing to him? As he stared at the brazen boy, he only saw an eager nurse completely concerned with tending to his injured patient. There was no hidden implication behind his actions. Did Gintoki want there to be?

“I’m sorry, Gin-sama. Did I cause pain to your other wounds? Should I stop?”

“N-no. I’m fine,” Gintoki barely managed to breathe out.

The boy started going lower and lower and Gintoki’s wafer-thin control was threatening to snap. His hand shot out to dig into the boy’s hair, slowly pulling him away by the ponytail. “Don’t go down there. That’s dangerous.”

Confusion swirled in Hijikata’s blue eyes, not understanding the hidden message of his warning. His eyes caught a nick glaring at him from his master’s chin. He earnestly closed the distance to lap at Gintoki’s jaw. The small wound closed in an instant and he drew a line with his tongue to the next wound: a cut on his master’s bottom lip. 

Gintoki took in a sharp breath and Hijikata withdrew suddenly, his tongue still out in the air. He sat back down on his knees. “My—my deepest apologies, Gin-sama.” A hot blush blossomed on his cheeks, finally realizing the many boundaries he had overstepped in his eagerness to heal his protector. He lowered his head, waiting for Gintoki to hit him. Instead, the silver-haired samurai pushed out slowly, “I think I bit my tongue during the battle.” 

Hijikata furrowed his brows and sniffed the air close to Gintoki’s face, his Amanto blood sharpening his sense of smell. “Really? I don’t smell any blood.”

Losing all sense of reason, Gintoki bit down on his tongue, hard enough to draw blood. Not giving Hijikata a chance to escape, he shoved his tongue into the boy’s mouth and used his weight to push him into the floor. He held down his wrists as he licked against the walls of the cat boy’s mouth. 

Hijikata tasted fresh blood but his mind was unable to process anything save for his master’s hot, wet tongue pushing and swirling around his own. Gintoki receded just a fraction to lick at his ward’s bottom lip before sucking on it. Hijikata couldn’t keep the moan from escaping his throat. 

The sound knocked sense back into Gintoki and he hastily withdrew, breaking the trail of saliva connecting them. His tongue was fully healed. What the _fuck_ did he just do?

“Uh, thanks,” said Gintoki smartly before abruptly getting up and fleeing to the other side of the tent to sleep. 

Hijikata watched his master speechlessly as his hand tentatively came to touch his lip. It was swollen from his master’s abuse. A hot, red blush painted his pale skin. 

What the hell just happened?

———

The two decided to never speak of the incident again, both reasoning that it was a fluke due to the adrenaline of Gintoki’s injuries. But the distance between the two never widened. 

In fact, as the months passed, they seemed to draw closer. 

It was natural for one to search out the other. The soldiers around them joked that they were practically attached at the hip. 

With the training and the chance to eat proper meals, Hijikata’s body grew stronger and his bones no longer jutted out of his skin. With his developing strength came confidence. He grew brazen, challenging the soldiers in the camp. 

One by one, soldiers met their defeat at the hands of someone half their size and age. They stopped calling his wins a fluke when he beat them the second and third time around. 

But Hijikata was still unable to beat Gintoki, no matter how many times he tried. After another crushing defeat, he lay on the ground, panting. The blisters on his hands were threatening to burst, preventing him from clutching the wooden sword for a rematch. 

Despite his defeat, he yelled out to his master, “Lemme fight on the front lines!”

Gintoki turned around, looking down at his student who could barely stand. 

“Says the kid who hasn’t beat me once.”

A fire burned in the steel blue eyes of the prodigal boy. 

“I wanna fight alongside you!”

His teacher’s ruby red eyes glowed just as bright in disapproval. 

“No, you’re too young.”

“That’s not fair! You joined the war when you were my age.”

Gintoki’s voice grew dark. 

“That’s different. I didn’t have a choice.”

The look Gintoki gave Hijikata made the young boy drop the subject. What Hijikata didn’t know was that Gintoki had another reason he didn’t want his student to join the battle: he selfishly didn’t want to risk his ward’s life. He would never admit such a truth aloud. The emotionally constipated man would much rather hide such feelings behind a mask of crudeness and insults. 

Gintoki left his student to brood, knowing from experience that pubescent teenagers needed time more than anyone. 

The black-haired teen stared at his master’s retreating back, frustration boiling inside him. Why wouldn’t Gintoki let him join the soldiers? He wanted to prove himself! He was tired of sitting around camp waiting for his master to come stumbling back with more wounds than he’d left with. Didn’t Gintoki understand how frustrating it was to be left behind? 

Of course he didn’t, because he was always on the front lines. 

If Hijikata could be there to watch Gintoki’s back, then maybe he wouldn’t be injured as much. That was the whole truth. He didn’t just want to fight--he wanted to protect his master, too. But the emotionally constipated teen was never going to admit that to Gintoki’s face. He’d much rather hide behind angsty brooding. 

A dark presence manifested behind the halfling. The cat-boy scrambled to find his hat as he hurriedly covered his ears with his arm. 

“Don’t even bother hiding your ears, you mutt. I already know you’re part Amanto,” came the contemptuous voice of Takasugi. Hijikata froze. This was the last person he’d wanted to see, much less talk to. They had never exchanged words before this moment. Takasugi still looked at him like he was a vermin after all those months, and Hijikata had no desire to butt heads with him. 

“How did you find out?” 

“Did you really think Gintoki could keep such a big secret from his fellow general?”

“If you knew, then why haven’t you gotten rid of me? You certainly look like you want to.”

“Because it seemed interesting—the fact that Gintoki was willing to take a child under his wing when he’s like a child himself.” 

Takasugi wasn’t wrong. Sometimes, Gintoki acted like an overgrown child as he quarreled with Hijikata over the pettiest things. 

The man continued, “I wanted to see what a disciple of Gintoki would be capable of.”

“Have you reached a conclusion?”

“How could I? You haven’t done anything worthwhile.”

Hijikata’s vein almost popped. That touched a nerve. 

Takasugi gave Hijikata an assessing look. “You want to prove yourself, right? I have a mission. Something that only you can do, given your _special_ heritage.”

The youth didn’t even hesitate to accept, desperate to prove himself in the eyes of the general. 

——

The mission seemed simple enough. There was a small Amanto military camp that had just established its base a day’s journey from where the rebels were. What was off about that camp was that it had maybe a couple dozen soldiers. It was a large cry from the typical battalions the Joui warriors had fought before. 

Hijikata’s mission was to sneak into the base and listen to what the Amanto were up to. The Amanto could smell a human from a mile away, but his halfling blood masked his human smell. Once he found some intel that would be advantageous to the Rebel Army, he had to report back to Takasugi immediately. It wasn’t a glamorous fight-with-every-tooth-and-nail mission that the boy was hoping for, but it was a good enough start. Maybe his master would deem him ready to fight alongside him when he returned.

Hijikata’s Amanto features made him quick and quiet as a cat. He meandered through the camp, quickly making his way to the largest tent. 

A deep voice could be heard from inside it. “The rebels are scattered all over the vast forests of this land. It would take months, maybe even years to hunt them all down.”

“What if we didn’t have to hunt those blasted woods?” Another Amanto chimed in. “What if we could potentially destroy the woods and force them out?”

“What are you saying?”

Hijikata peaked through a small hole in the tent’s fabric to see an Amanto pull out an acidic yellow vial. “This is my team’s latest discovery. I have yet to report it to our superiors, but it’s very promising. It combines material from our home world and ingredients I’ve found here. I call it ‘Agent Yellow.’

“If we use our airships to spray this over the woods, we could kill the trees and surrounding plant life to force those pathetic mongrels out.”

“What are its effects on humans?”

“I don’t know since it’s never been tested, but if this is what Agent Yellow can do to plantlife...” The Amanto unscrewed the cap and poured a bit on the ground to demonstrate. Almost immediately, the green grass mutated into scorched, black earth. 

“... Imagine what it can do to humankind.”

  


Hijikata‘s eyes widened. These weren’t simple Amanto soldiers. They were scientists! Completely mad scientists at that! That chemical wouldn’t just destroy vegetation, it could potentially scorch the rest of Japan and turn it into charred earth. Imagine the toll on the farmlands. No one, neither rich nor poor, would have anything to eat. He couldn’t let these aliens do that to his beloved country. 

“Well, well, well. Looks like we have a little rat in our midst.” A menacing voice said behind him. 

Hijikata flinched and tried to escape, but large fingers grabbed his wrists in a bone-crushing grip and he came face to face with the ugliest pig Amanto he’d ever seen. The alien took a look at the boy’s ears. “I should correct myself. Looks like a kitty-cat has sneaked into our base.”

He dragged Hijikata into the tent. “General, what should we do with this intruder?”

“What’s another Amanto doing spying on us? Aren’t you supposed to be on our side, cat?”

The pig alien snorted and dragged his new prisoner closer to his nose. 

“It’s the weirdest thing, General. He’s dressed like a samurai and smells like one, too.”

The Amanto holding the ‘Agent Yellow’ vial perked up and moved closer to inspect Hijikata. “Could it be… is he a half-breed?” 

Hijikata grimaced, liking this Amanto even less than the one bruising his skin. The scientist didn’t even look at him like he considered Hijikata one of them. In his eyes, the halfling was another specimen to be observed and dissected. 

“Take him to the experiment chambers. I have some questions that need to be answered before he meets his end.”

Hijikata squirmed and bit his captor, his canines digging into flesh, but the larger alien easily knocked him out with one hit to the neck. 

——

The cat-eared halfbreed opened his eyes, blinking slowly. He was sporting the worst migraine and he couldn’t recognize where he was. How long had he been out? The familiar face of the scientist from earlier reminded him of his unfortunate current situation. 

Hijikata tried getting up but found his arms and legs were chained . 

“Chains are a good look on you, boy.”

Hijikata’s skin crawled, not liking the creepy look the scientist was giving him. 

“Where is the rebel hideout?”

Hijikata spat on his face. 

“A rabid animal like you needs to be taught a couple of lessons.” He smacked the boy across his face, not caring that Hijikata was a mere child. 

All was fair in love and war. 

———

Gintoki startled awake from his nap, finding that he’d slept through most of dinner. That was odd. Even if he left Hijikata brooding, the boy would usually recover within an hour. He should have come to wake up Gin for his meal by now, unless the brat still pissed off. But when he went to search for his ward at the field where they usually trained, the small figure of Hijikata could still not be found. 

He returned to the campfire and called out to soldiers. “Has anyone seen Hijikata?”

“I just saw him talking with Takasugi-sama.”

Takasugi?! That was impossible! That cavalier General had never approved of Hijikata’s presence since the moment he set eyes on him . 

Gintoki stormed into Takasugi’s private tent. 

“What the hell did you do with my student?”

The purple-haired man didn’t even flinch when Gintoki burst in. Instead, he took a draw from his pipe and blew out a puff of smoke. 

“Frankly, it’s what you’ve been doing with the Amanto brat that should be up for question. Did you really think you could hide the fact that you brought an Amanto into this camp?”

The silver-haired soldier inhaled sharply in surprise. 

“You knew?”

“It was obvious. What I don’t understand is why you would risk our entire cause for a stray cat? If our soldiers found out that you were harboring an Amanto, imagine how they would react! Couldn’t you have waited for a more appropriate time to adopt a pet?”

“He’s not a pet!” Gintoki shot back. 

“Then what is he to you?!” The fire in Takasugi’s eyes were no longer burning with anger; jealousy stoked the flames as well.

But Gintoki was too dense to understand the hidden confession behind his comrade’s question. He could barely understand why he’d be willing to go through hell and highwater to protect Hijikata. 

Takasugi continued coldly, “You can’t replace Shouyou-sensei with that half-breed.”

Gintoki’s eyes flared in murderous anger. 

Seething, he yanked Takasugi up by his collar. “That’s _not_ what I’m trying to do and you know it. What I _do_ know is that I made an oath to protect that brat with my life.”

Takasugi saw the rage buried in Gintoki’s crimson eyes. He couldn’t comprehend how his childhood friend had changed so much since they first joined the war. But then again, he had changed too. 

“I sent him to the new Amanto military base to do recon.”

“You sent the kid alone?!” Gintoki could not keep his temper at bay. He punched his long standing comrade, knuckles kissing his sharp cheekbones.

The white-haired general stormed out the tent, yelling for a soldier to fetch his horse. 

Takasugi watched his childhood friend go. 

“It was for your own good, Gintoki.”

——

Hijikata had grown numb, his mind refusing to process the pain from his cuts and the Amanto’s hits. One of his eyes was swollen shut, yet he still glared at his jailer in defiance . 

“The brat hasn’t let up. I guess it’s true. The samurai really are made of different stuff.”

The scientist's eyes roamed over Hijikata’s body. 

“You know, I wanted to keep you alive for research but I just thought of a better idea.” 

He pulled out a small vial filled with a familiar acidic yellow color. 

A malicious grin stretched across his face. “How would you like to be the first victim—I mean subject—for Agent Yellow?” He popped open the vial and drew closer to Hijikata at a painstakingly slow pace, torturing the boy with dread. The boy could hear the dry grass crunch beneath each of the Amanto’s footsteps as he got closer. The evil scientist tilted the vial for a thin line of acidic yellow liquid to reach the edge. 

“I hope you have a slow and painful death.”

Hijikata clenched his eyes shut, refusing to beg for mercy. He wouldn’t let this sadistic monster have the satisfaction of hearing his pleas. 

The last thoughts swirling around his head were of his master. 

_Gin-sama, he thought. I’m so sorry, Gin-sama._ He couldn’t even say goodbye. 

Suddenly, an explosion sounded across the camp, followed by the terrified screams of the Amanto. 

“We’re under attack!”

The scientist quickly closed the vial and put it back in his coat. A messenger ran into the tent. 

“How many rebels are there?!” The Amanto yelled, annoyed at the interruption. 

“Just the one! It’s the Shiroyasha!!!”

The name struck fear in the sadistic Amanto. 

“Why the hell is he here?!” 

The second the words left his mouth , a white figure appeared and mercilessly slashed their throats. Their bodies dropped to the floor in a shower of blood. Hijikata felt a couple of drops hit his face and he turned his head away. 

When he looked back , the bloodthirsty red eyes of his master bore into him. As the silver-haired samurai stared down at his foolhardy student in anger, Hijikata whimpered. 

Gintoki brought up his bloodied sword and swung it down. Hijikata flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, but instead of feeling pain he heard the telltale signs of metal hitting the floor. He was free. 

Relief flooded him. His master wasn’t angry enough to slay Hijikata where he lay . The cat-halfling threw proprietary to the wind and wrapped his arms around Gintoki, burying his nose in his neck. He inhaled his master’s comforting scent. 

“Gin-sama. Gin-sama,” Hijikata chanted, not knowing what to say first: his apologies or his thanks. 

Gintoki wrapped his arms around his ward but did not relish the moment. The flames from the explosion were fast approaching. He bent down and slipped a strong arm under Hijikata’s knees. Hijikata didn’t mind being carried in his master’s arms; he was too exhausted to move his own body anyhow. 

The silver-haired samurai carried Hijikata bridal-style out the burning tent and toward his horse. Hijikata was on the verge of slipping into a deep slumber when his master rubbed his face against his cheek. 

In a broken, desperate voice, Gintoki whispered, _“please, don’t go where I can’t follow.”_

———

Everything was so hot, it felt like Hijikata was burning up from the inside. His lungs were threatening to burst. His eyes tried to pry open but even that proved to be an arduous task. 

Hijikata’s body was lying against something warm, hard, and smelled like firewood and something unambiguously sweet. He turned his nose, trying to bury it further into the scent. He let out a sigh of content. It smelled just like his master. 

“Oi. Don’t move around too much. You have a fever.” Gintoki’s voice carried right into his ears. His cat ears twitched. 

The cat-boy opened his eyes now but his vision was still hazy. But he could feel a cold wet towel slide across his heated skin. That felt really nice. His eyes opened more this time and he found himself naked except for the fudonshi covering his private area. Two long legs were splayed beside him and he realized that he was sitting against Gin-sama’s chest. _No way_ that was possible. 

Hijikata flinched when Gintoki accidentally ran over a large purple bruise blossoming on his rib cage. 

“ _Toshi_ … what did they do to you?” His words were barely a whisper. 

_‘Toshi’?_ This _had_ to be a fever-induced hallucination. Gintoki had never called Hijikata by his given name. 

Suddenly, the feverish boy felt two digit parted his lips and dip into his mouth. “Lick,” his master’s voice commanded. Always eager to please his master, he swirled his tongue around the samurai’s fingers. Gin withdrew his hand and ran his fingers against the small cuts on Hijikata’s body. 

The cat-boy shivered as he remembered the Amanto scientist who had sliced into him, torturing him for information. It stung at first as the saliva seeped in his wounds but the sensation was quickly replaced by a cold heat. His master repeated this process, smearing Hijikata’s saliva over his numerous injuries. 

Even though the halfling told himself it was only a dream, he couldn’t help the heat pooling in his stomach. It was all too sensual. Having his master’s scent thick in the air as he ran his hands over Hijikata’s body. 

Gintoki looked at the tent forming underneath his student’s undergarment. Unable to control his hand, he lightly ran a finger over Hijikata’s clothed erection. The cat-boy mewled as his hips bucked beneath his touch, searching for more of that delicious friction. The samurai retracted his hand like it had just been electrocuted. 

“G-Gin-sama… _please._ ” The desperation in the boy’s tone was unlocking doors inside Gintoki that he never knew existed. 

No. He needed to be the responsible adult here. But even Gin knew he was a far cry from an adult. 

Hijikata let out another soft moan when Gin’s hands slowly slid down the boy’s stomach. Gin’s self-control was slipping through his hand like sand. 

“Toshi… have you ever touched yourself?”

In a feverish voice, he panted, “I thought… I thought that doing things like that wasn’t part of the samurai way.”

Gintoki chuckled darkly, aroused by Hijikata’s naivety. “No, no. Samurai can still _indulge_ in some things.”

“Is that why you still eat sweets even though Katsura-dono says that real samurai don’t fall so easily to their desires?” 

What the fuck? Gintoki owed Katsura a hard kick in the ass.

“Ignore what Katsura says. I’m your master, aren’t I?”

Hijikata turned his head and licked curve of Gintoki’s jaw, healing a small cut that his master received from his rescue mission. _“Yes… Gin-sama.”_

The silver samurai shuddered. This boy was going to be the death of him.

“Why don’t I teach you something you can’t learn from books?” Gintoki offered, having lost all sense of control in his ward’s presence. 

“Okay…” came the small whisper of Hijikata’s voice. 

Gintoki guided Hijikata’s hand down while another pulled down the undergarment covering the teen’s dick. Remembering that he didn’t have any lube on hand, he pulled back Hijikata’s hand to spit into his palm. Now prepared he curled his hand around his student’s and gently wrapped both their fingers around his swollen member. 

Gin gave it a good squeeze, testing Hijikata’s reaction. The boy squirmed in Gin’s hold but seemed to like the sensation. Gin used his free hand to move the black-haired boy’s bangs behind his ear. “How do you like the pressure?” the samurai teacher asked, breathing into Hijikata’s sensitive ears. 

Hijikata’s senses felt like they were drowning in everything Gintoki. His body had his master’s fingerprints across his skin. He still tasted his master’s fingers on his tongue. The whirls of his master’s fingers were practically imprinted onto his tongue with how many times his hand dipped into his mouth. The smell of Gin intoxicated Hijikata. All he could see was his master’s hands on his body and the man’s words were worming their way into his ears and driving him insane. 

The cat-half breed had promised his heart and soul over to Gintoki the day he took him under his wing. But this was the first time that he thought his master was his. All his. His scent. His touch. His voice. Everything thing belonged to Hijikata as well. 

“I’ll teach you how to feel good, Toshi.” 

Hijikata gulped in anticipation. 

“First you grip the base and then you stroke your way to the top. Some people like it when you thumb across the slit and—“ Hijikata hissed in pleasure. “Guess you’re a fan, Toshi.”

Gintoki guided Hijikata’s hand back down and began setting a pace, slow at first but accelerating soon enough. It’s not like either had the control to keep it slow for long. 

The cat-boy felt like his entire body was on fire. Every time Gintoki twisted his wrist just so, Hijikata bucked his hips to drill into the hands wrapped around his dick. As the pace grew faster, his moans grew louder until the point Gintoki told him to keep his voice down. 

“Shhh, Toshi. You don’t want anyone coming in and catching us, do you?” Gintoki nipped at the edge of Hijikata’s soft cat ears in warning. 

It must have been the fever because Hijikata desired just that. He desperately needed the whole camp to hear the wanton moans that his master was eliciting from him. He wanted the entire army to know that every part of Hijikata had Gintoki’s name seared onto it. His moans were increasing in volume no matter how much Gin warned him. 

It got to the point where Gintoki grabbed Hijikata’s jaw and forced his tongue into the boy’s mouth to muffle his filthy sounds. He pushed and shoved into the soft, wet appendage, relishing in how pliant Hijikata was before him. 

Intoxicated by his master’s scent and touch, Hijikata came hard with stars kissing his eyelids. Ribbons of come coated his stomach and both of their hands. The release carried him easily to slumber and he slumped like a rag doll against Gin’s hard chest. 

Gintoki gave his student an open-mouthed kiss on his shoulder. Unable to resist his temptation, he sucked a hickey hard enough to bruise the younger boy’s skin. Maybe it could camouflage with the rest of the bruises littering the halfling’s body. 

——

Hijikata woke up with a dizzying headache and sore _everything_ , but the pain told him he was alive. His memories from the night before were hazy. The sun was well in the sky, which meant that he had slept through breakfast and his morning training with Gintoki. 

At the thought of his master, a deep blush settled on the cat-boy’s face. Snapshots of the feverish wet dream he had last night ransacked his mind, no matter how many times he commanded the thoughts to stop. It felt so real. But it couldn’t have been. His master would never in a million years touch Hijikata like that. It was only a fever-induced hallucination born from his hidden feelings for Gintoki. 

Wait. His hidden _what-now?!_ Before that epiphany could hit him like a bullet, white hair entered his vision. 

Gintoki’s typical face stared at Hijikata. “Hello, is anyone there?” He waved his hand in front of the boy. 

Hijikata felt nothing off from his master. If they really did do _that_ last night, then how could Gintoki face him with his usual dead fish eyes. It must have all been a dream. 

“Toshi, do you feel better enough to train? If not, you can stay in.” That was surprisingly considerate for Gintoki to offer. 

Hijikata’s brain finally returned from its vacation. “No! It’s fine! I can train today!” He needed to get out of this room filled with his master’s scent. He couldn’t risk losing any more of his sanity. 

Grabbing his sword, he ran out of the tent as fast as he could despite his wooziness. 

Wait, had Gintoki just called him ‘Toshi’?

————————

The next few months were too full of activity for Hijikata to spend time sifting through the confusing emotions he felt for Gintoki. He’d never even brought up the night that his master rescued him from the Amanto military camp. If it really was a dream, he’d have to admit to having a very inappropriate wet dream about Gintoki. Hijikata couldn’t handle such an embarrassing confrontation and who knows the kind of teasing he might receive from that jackass. 

He didn’t stop to think about that night. He didn’t stop to wonder why his master suddenly started calling him by his given name when they were in private. He just didn’t stop. 

But Hijikata never stopped seeking out his master’s touch. He never stopped missing Gintoki when he left on missions that would have him gone for weeks on end. He never stopped wanting to be by his side, but still, Gin refused to allow Hijikata to join him on his missions. 

“You would just be a distraction,” Gin told him after Hijikata asked for the thousandth time. A distraction? Did his master still think that his young student was a casualty in waiting? After all his growth, he’d still be a liability? Eventually, Hijikata stopped asking, seeing that Gintoki wouldn’t change his mind. 

Months passed and the land welcomed winter with a thick blanket of snow. Hijikata could barely get by with the thin layers he could salvage from the other soldiers. The nights were growing more difficult to fend off alone, but he refused to become even more dependent on Gintoki. 

Hijikata slipped under his blanket, curling into a ball to trap heat. Suddenly, he heard Gin stumble into the tent. The boy turned his head to glare at the obviously inebriated samurai. 

“Weren’t you supposed to be at a strategy meeting?” Hijikata asked, clearly annoyed at the irresponsible behavior his master was showing. 

“We couldn’t get anywhere so we decided to drink instead.” Gintoki dropped unceremoniously next to his student and unrolled a crude map of the region. The rebels had recently moved their camp to elude the encroaching Amanto forces. But scouts predicted that a large battalion would arrive within a few weeks. With the harshness of winter and decreasing supply, Gintoki didn’t know whether their forces could stand another attack. 

Gintoki had to find a way to avoid a full out battle with the Amanto, at least for this winter. Hijikata watched his master’s eyes narrow at the wide river barring them from their escape southward to avoid the snowstorms. 

The general shook his head in frustration. “How can we possibly swim through this river? One slip into the river would freeze anyone’s balls to death.”

“What if we don’t?” suggested his student. Gintoki looked at him like he grew two heads. 

“What if we dammed the river, which would allow us to cross. When the Amanto chase us, we lead them to the mouth of the river, break the dam and drown their army.”

Gin almost fell backward at such a brilliant military strategy. Was this kid a fucking genius?! Even though he had no real experience on the battlefield, his swordsmanship and intuition were better than that of the samurai with a decade of experience under their belt. But Gintoki could never admit this to the Hijikata. The brat would use his words to justify him entering the front lines. 

Instead, Gin threw a hand out to pat Hijikata on the head and stroke the space between his cat ears. “As expected of my student!” He haughtily said even though he knew it was all Hijikata. 

Hijikata grew still under his master’s unexpected praise. He relished in the weight of Gin’s warm hand on his head. The drunk man continued stroking his student’s head, not noticing the effect he had on the cat-boy. 

Not able to control himself, Hijikata started purring under his master’s touch. His tail swayed in delight. 

Gintoki’s hand stopped. “Are you… _purring?”_

Hijikata flinched and floundered, embarrassed at being caught with his cat self on full display. 

“Y-yes. I won’t do it again. I apologize, Gin-sama!” He turned with his tail between his legs and attempted to escape into the freezing embrace of the night when Gin caught his arm to drag him closer. 

“Don’t apologize. I like it.” Drunk Gintoki _loved_ to tease his young student. Why, there was no end in sight with the ways Gintoki could transform Hijikata into a blushing mess. 

Hijikata was unable to move his limbs as his mentor removed his hair tie, letting his black locks cascade down his shoulders. A hand came around to settle on the small of his back before dragging the young halfling into Gintoki’s lap. He placed his chin on top of the boy’s head, right between his cat ears. The other hand dug into his hair and carded through his silky locks. His master settled into a languid pace of brushing Hijikata’s hair with his fingers. 

Gin turned his head slightly to whisper directly into the smaller boy’s cat-ears. They twitched under his warm breath. “You’re so _cute,_ Toshi.”

The cat halfling had curled his hands into his master’s shirt, digging his fingers into Gintoki’s hard chest. It was so weird for Gin to be so brazenly affectionate with his ward, but the alcohol was doing things to his head. 

Eventually, Hijikata’s body began to relax, relishing in the tenderness of Gin’s fingers softly brushing his hair. His chest started vibrating as a deep purr rocked through his body. He had forgotten what his purrs sounded like. He only ever purred when he felt completely safe and content. He hadn’t felt that since both his parents were still alive. 

Although there was a constant war waging around them, Hijikata couldn’t help but feel that there could be no safer place but here in his master’s embrace. 

With his guard completely down, Hijikata moved to rub his cheek against his master, unconsciously trying to scent him. The prickliness of Gin’s white stubble tickled Hijikata’s soft cheeks. “You need to shave, Gin-sama.” Gintoki scoffed in amusement at his student’s nagging. 

Hijikata settled back down into the samurai’s lap. He dug his nose into the junction of Gintoki’s neck and shoulder where his smell was the strongest. His purrs increased exponentially. 

“You really like my scent, don’t you?” His young ward could only mew in assent. 

Gintoki continued his soft ministrations until only low purr could be heard from the boy. Hijikata had fallen asleep. The samurai picked his student up slowly, careful not to jostle him awake, and carried him to bed. He had laid the boy down on his own blanket, ready to tuck him in, but the boy hurriedly cuddled into Gin’s side, nose searching for Gin’s neck. 

They spent the rest of the winter nights wrapped in each other’s embrace. The pair even searched for each other in the cool spring nights. Gintoki would wake up with a chest heavy with Hijikata, the boy’s purrs vibrating between both of them. Unbeknownst to Hijikata, he used that as an excuse to sleep in, not bearing to wake the smaller boy. 

————————————

In the blink of an eye, two years passed and Hijikata was now sixteen years old. Gin was approaching twenty, but he showed no sign of maturing as a proper adult. The war grew with them with no end in sight so what would being an adult matter anyhow. 

On the day of his sixteenth birthday, Hijikata wondered if there were any rites to adulthood he could perform to be acknowledged in the eyes of the other soldiers around him. Most importantly, he wanted to be seen as an equal in his master’s eyes. Although Hijikata continuously grew in strength, Gintoki stayed the same in his stubbornness, refusing to allow the student to join any of his military campaigns. 

The young teen watched as a group of soldiers laughed and exchange obscene stories about their sexual conquests. But he paid them no mind. His true goal was the smoking object between their fingers: a tobacco pipe. Almost all the adult men in the camp smoked and he even saw Gin with one during a strategy meeting. It was a long shot but maybe if Hijikata could take a drag, Gin could see him as an adult. 

With his quick, cat-like reflexes, he swiped a pipe from a soldier who had casually laid it on the table, forgotten, as he avidly used hand gestures to tell his story. Hijikata slipped away behind the general’s tent. Trying to mimic the way his master held it, he bent his elbow at an awkward angle and placed the mouthpiece between his lips. Just as he was about to take a drag of the pipe, Gin appeared behind him, shirtless and holding his haori and undershirts in his arm. 

Gin quickly gleaned the situation from Hijikata’s spooked look and the pipe in his shaking hands. With no warning, he swiped the lit object from his student.

“Hey! Give it back! I snatched it fair and square!” Hijikata jumped up and tried to take back what was rightfully his. But Gintoki held it up the pipe far from his ward’s reach. Even with his recent growth spurt, Hijikata still did not reach the height of his twenty-ish superior. 

“If you wanted a smoke so bad, why didn’t you just ask?” Taking a long drag, Gintoki swooped down and enclosed the black-haired teen’s mouth with his own. 

With no remorse, Gin blew a lungful of smoke into the poor boy’s mouth. Hijikata coughed up a storm, feeling like his lungs turning inside out to expel the toxic smoke. The white-haired samurai threw his dirty clothes onto the young boy. 

Hijikata was fuming underneath his master’s clothes. What the hell?! The teen stormed into the tent and angrily pulled out the wash basin, water sloshing as he did so. 

In his anger, he hadn’t even realized Gintoki just technically kissed him. 

_‘Who the hell does he think he is?! Always teasing me like that?”_

The teenager slammed the basin onto the ground, uncaring of the water that sprayed onto the tatami mats. Whatever, it would dry quickly on a hot, summer day like this. He pulled Gintoki’s haori of his shoulders, bunching them tightly in his hands. He had half a mind to brandish his claws and a design a new look for his master. Something stylish with holes. A lot of holes. But he knew the asshole would make him sew the tears right up so it would be more work for Hijikata in the end. 

The scent from his master’s clothes wafted into his nose and suddenly, all his irritation dissipated. Did the silver-haired samurai always smell _this good?_ Hijikata hated to admit his penchant for his master’s smell, but something about Gintoki’s natural scent was so intense today. The Amanto halfbreed shoved his nose deeper into his teacher’s white haori. 

Gintoki’s intoxicating scent triggered a slow-burning heat that flowed into the pit of Hijikata’s stomach like magma. He was beginning to feel _really weird._ His mind drowned in memories of his master: the many, many nights Gintoki allowed Hijikata to curl up into his warmth to fend off the cold. The passing touches his master gave him that raised goosebumps across his skin—like every time Gin guided him through the fields with a firm hand settled at the small of his back. Or the praises he’d received at the end of a match that had his heart grow too big for his chest. That too real wet dream that the teen had of his master so many moons ago, which he had shoved down deep into the recesses of his mind. 

Hijikata unearthed that dream, focusing on the heated touches his master pressed into his body. He imagined the ghost of Gintoki dragging his hands languidly across his hot skin, circling his fingers around his pert nipple, and squeezing it just so between his nails. Hijikata did the same with his own hand. He strangled a mewl before it could escape his throat. He needed to stop. Thinking about his master, the man who had protected and mentored him all this time, was inappropriate! But his reasoning melted in the puddle of lust pooling in his gut. He couldn’t stop himself now. He didn’t want to. 

The cat-half breed fumbled around with his obi, clumsily undoing it in his haste to expose his lower half. While shoving his nose into Gin’s haori with one hand, his other slid its way to wrap around his prick. 

The sweat of his palm made it easier to pump his hardening member. He screwed his eyes shut, focusing on the stabs of pleasure that hit his gut every time he squeezed just so. In his mind's eye, he roamed the angular curves of his master’s handsome face. That jawline was so sharp, it could cut a sword. Hijikata wanted to _drown_ in Gintoki’s red eyes. To be crushed by the weight of his master’s gaze as his eyes and hands devoured his body. 

“Gin-sama... _Gin-sama!!_ ” The very name brought Hijikata to a sudden climax. His ejaculation was absorbed in his master’s haori and their smells mixed together. 

“SHIT!” Hijikata’s senses barreled back into him once he realized what he had just done. Flooded with guilt, he shoved the article into the wash basin, making sure to wash that particular stained spot _extra_ hard. 

Lost in his own world, Hijikata hadn’t noticed that he gained an unexpected audience of one. A few minutes earlier, Gintoki was about to step into the tent with another dirty hakama in his hands to throw into the wash. But the sounds of his ward’s wanton moan stopped him in his tracks.

With one hand parting the entrance to the tent, Gintoki stood paralyzed at the sight of Hijikata jacking off to his clothes. His lips parted open in disbelief at the scene before him. His eyes traced the soft contours of his student’s profile. The fact that Hijikata’s fist pumping his cock was hidden under his haori made the visage all the more obscene. The heady scent of lust in the air was making Gin think with the part down south that should _not_ be making any decisions at the moment. His nether regions wanted him to crash into Hijikata and finish the job for him. 

What was going on?! Why did the air around Hijikata smell so _sweet_ and irresistible?! 

Gintoki needed to clear his head. He needed to get out of here. He ran into the forest in front of the camp to get as far as possible away from Hijikata’s intoxicating scent. It smelled like everything he could ever want was pouring out from the cat-boy and all he had to do was lick the beads of sweat sliding down his skin. 

His lungs burned past an unbearable point, so he knew he had to stop and take a breather. His legs gave out under him as he slid down against the back of a tree. The rough bark felt too uncomfortable for his shirtless back, but the irritation compared nothing to the pain in his trousers. Gintoki shoved the band around his waist down and quickly exposed his throbbing length. Shit. Shit. Why was he acting like a horny teenager in the middle of a war? 

The silver-haired samurai spat into his hand and stroked his dick, sending a shiver up his spine. He immediately recalled the scene now imprinted into his mind. He’d walked in just as Hijikata undid the obi and his yukata enticingly slid down his smooth thigh as a result. No! He needed to get Hijikata’s pants out of his mind. He swore to himself that he would never touch his student after the close call with the fever dream. It was inappropriate for a teacher to think, much less touch, a student in the way he wanted to with Hijikata. 

He had to think about something else to kill this boner. Amanto or some shit like that. Speaking of which, he had scavenged the oddest material off of an Amanto the other day. It was a bottle with a red cap and a white, viscous substance in it. The label was in the foreign language of the Amanto, but he could make out a couple of syllables: “ _mayo-_ something.” He gave it to Hijikata to inspect whether or not it was poison, and the idiot licked a bit of the substance without a moment’s hesitation. 

The exhilaration that Hijikata shot into afterward made Gintoki wonder if this “mayo” thing was the equivalent of catnip to Amanto cat-boys. The mayo freak fervently squeezed as much of the white substance as he could into his mouth. When there was only a bit remaining, he squeezed even harder, squirting the remaining drops onto his face. With his tongue still out in the air, desperately lapping at the tip of the bottle, it looked like…

Oh my fucking god. It looked like the only way to get rid of this boner was to take a page out of his student’s book. Now with nothing holding him back, he imagined that it wasn’t the bottle of mayo that Hijikata was worshipping in his memories. Unashamed, Gintoki pictured his student’s sinful mouth bobbing up and down his throbbing dick.

Heat flooded his loins until it became unbearable for his body hold it back any longer. He came with the fresh memory of Hijikata lips curving around his name. 

_“Gin-sama… Gin-sama!!”_

Fuck. This brat was going to be the death of him.

————

After an hour of washing the pile of dirty clothes and rinsing them, Hijikata was currently the laundry out to dry. He sighed in satisfaction. The high temperatures of the day would certainly dry these clothes very fast. In his concentration, he hadn’t realized that a mysterious figure had encroached into his territory. 

“Well, well… looks like that delicious smell was coming from you. Can’t say I’m surprised,” a deep voice called out behind him. 

Hijikata turned around in high alert. “Who’s there?” His eyes fell upon a rebel soldier he hadn’t recognized. Was it one of the new recruits? It must have been. Such a large, burly soldier wouldn’t have been missed in the camps. He was almost three heads taller than the teenage boy. He looked like he could snap Hijikata’s spin like a twig with his bare arms. Needless to say, the halfbreed’s fight or flight mode was starting to kick in. 

The cat-boy brandished his claws. Hijikata always chose fight when given the option. This foolhardy new recruit was going to have some sense knocked into him. The samurai prodigy had beaten over half the camp and this Neanderthal of a soldier was going to join them. 

Hijikata lunged forward on the offense but the soldier quickly shot a gigantic hand forth and knocked the air out of Hijikata’s lungs. Breathless, the boy landed backwards on the ground. The soldier took no time in eclipsing Hijikata with his large body and pinning his captive’s arms and legs with his weight. There was no escape in sight for Hijikata.

The putrid scent of this beast was world’s away from his master’s fresh, tantalizing smell. He could feel bile rise in his throat. 

“I’m going to have _fun_ with you.” 

The captured teen tried to scream for help, but a meaty palm shoved against his mouth, silencing him. He clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the worst. But the worst never came. 

In the next instant, he heard a pitiful choke escape the soldier’s throat and looked up to see the man’s eyes roll back into his skull. A foot kicked the now dead body unceremoniously to the side. His beloved master stood at the wake of the soldier he just killed for Hijikata. Gintoki pulled out his sword out of the back of the fresh corpse. He flicked the blood away in complete nonchalance unbefitting of a man who had just killed one of his own soldiers. 

Gintoki walked back to look down at the disheveled mess that was his student. His blood-red eyes bore into Hijikata, pinning him to the spot. Wordlessly, he offered a hand to the halfling. But the moment, his hand connected with the heated palms of the black-haired teen, he couldn’t control himself anymore. Quicker than lightning, he pulled Hijikata by the well-worn collar of his black yukata and shoved his hungry lips onto his student’s unsuspecting ones. 

Fuck self-control. It was overrated anyhow. 

He bit Hijikata’s lips hard enough to draw blood—the rage from witnessing some beefy oaf try to have his way with his student still present. 

_“You’re mine, Toshi.”_ It wasn’t a statement. It was a command. 

A small whimper was all that Hijikata could muster under the weight of Gintoki’s heavy gaze. “Y-yes… master.” 

—

Miraculously, the two found their way back to the camp with all their clothes on. But that fact was not going to remain true any longer. Gintoki sat against a thick wooden pillar with his student in his lap. The beauty of yukatas really showed itself in how quickly it could become undone. He eagerly slid Hijikata’s yukata down his shoulders and his palms earnestly enjoyed their new job of mapping the teen’s smooth skin. Pretty soon, they were both in their undergarments, rutting into each other like the world was going to end tomorrow. 

Gintoki wanted to savor his first time with Hijikata. But there was something indescribable in the air that made it impossible to slow down. His palm slithered under Hijikata’s ass, finger slipping under the fudonshi to discover slick already coming out of his student’s asshole. That was weird. He hadn’t even touched Hijikata yet. Was this possibly due to Hijikata’s Amanto genetic makeup? Curious, he probed past the first ring only to find his finger sliding easily into Hijikata. Fuck. All reason and logic flew out of the window. Only something purely carnal pulled the strings to Gintoki’s limbs. 

The white-haired samurai pumped his middle finger into his student for a bit before adding another. After the third finger, Hijikata could no longer focus on his new favorite activity of licking every inch of Gintoki. He sat down on his knees to effectively pin himself onto his master’s fingers. The smaller teen grabbed his master’s tensed wrist as he moved up and down a maddenly slow pace. Hijikata rotated his hips in the most obscene way imaginable to man and Gintoki rewarded him with a press against the slick walls. 

The cat-boy crooned in delight. _Fuck._ He needed to replace his fingers with something that was thicker and heavier or else he’d burn down the entire campsite in delirium. He took back his hand and Hijikata protested with a desperate whine. 

“Master… _please…”_ The teenage boy begged like Gintoki was the cruel one when Hijikata looked like _that_ —with tears at the corners of his eyes and a pout that had Gin at the cat-boy’s beck and call.

The silver-haired samurai answered his student’s unspoken plea by shoving him down onto the tatami mats. Gintoki inwardly grinned at how fast Hijikata’s back arched as his tongue licked at his nipple, rolling and pinching the other bud. 

Gin’s tongue soon returned to its rightful place inside the wet cavern of Hijikata’s mouth. He beckoned his student’s tongue to slip into his own mouth and sucked like the answer to all of life’s problems was on the tip of Hijikata’s tongue. 

After a while, he couldn’t ignore the painful throbbing in his dick any longer. He threw Hijikata’s slick-stained underwear to the corner. Without another word, he broke away from Hijikata and hooked his arms under the teen’s legs, effortlessly lifting them onto his shoulders. He lined his pulsing erection at Hijikata’s entrance. He gave one last look in the black-haired boy’s direction, falling deeply into the crystal blue eyes that had trapped him so long ago. Hijikata nodded, giving his master the silent approval he had asked for. 

Gintoki plunged himself deeply in the velvety heat of Hijikata. The pleasure that shot through him as a result almost rewrote his genes. After he came down from the high, he drew himself back to the tip and thrust his dick into Hijikata’s asshole again, this time with his student’s sweet spot in mind. 

Hijikata downright screamed as he drowned in ecstasy. A smirk tugged at the corner of Gin’s lips. With no remorse, he pounded himself into Hijikata again and again until the cat-boy claws dig into Gintoki’s back and came with his master’s name escaping his lips. 

“GIN-SAMA!!”

An instinct seated deep within Hijikata urged him to leave his mark on Gintoki. The cat-boy in the heat of pleasure burrowed his head into the crook of his master’s neck and bit down hard enough to draw blood. Hijikata had marked his master as his. This was for the world to see that Gintoki was undeniably his. 

Ribbons of come shot forth and coated his stomach. As the shockwaves of orgasm rippled through Hijikata, Gin miraculous controlled to slow himself to simply enjoy his ward pulsing beneath him. After a bit, the cat-boy glanced down at his dick, which showed no sign of softening. Embarrassment flooded his face and his hands shot down to cover himself. 

He looked at the glaring bite mark he left on his master. “I-I think there’s something wrong with me,” confessed Hijikata with his voice trembling with trepidation. 

Gin encircled his student’s thin wrist with his own, drawing his hands away. “There’s nothing wrong with you. And don’t hide yourself. Remember, all of you is mine now.”

Hijikata gulped, not knowing what to say, but his body answered for him. Gin chuckled in dark amusement as he felt Hijikata tightened around him. He lowered his head to whisper right into his student’s ears, “Did you like that? Do you like belonging to me?”

The cat-boy couldn’t help but felt a shiver of pleasure run out his spine. “Y-yes… master,” he managed to push out in the midst of his embarrassment. 

Gintoki couldn’t help but smile, his heart beating like it won a marathon, and moved to place a chaste kiss onto Hijikata’s lips. The sign of content from his student sent a bolt of lightning to Gin’s dick, bringing it back to life. 

The white-haired samurai joined their lips for another soft, sweet kiss before flipping Hijikata unceremoniously onto his knees and pounding into him with abandon. As he fucked his ward senselessly, a desire burgeoned it within him. It must have been the sweet, maddening smell the Amanto halfling was giving off. His teeth latched onto his student’s nape, marking Hijikata for all the world to see. Gintoki came hard, coating Hijikata’s inside with his copious amounts of his semen. Even though he jacked the black-haired teen to another climax, his dick still stood proud. 

“You must be _really_ pent up,” Gin teased. 

“Shut up, you idiot,” his student somehow managed as his head grew dizzier with lust. The smell of sex swirling inside the room was driving the two men insane. All they wanted to do was fuck. 

The pair continued on well into the night, with Gintoki pounding into Hijikata over and over and over again. A normal man would have fainted after coming consecutively for the fifth time. But Gintoki was no ordinary man. He was the White Demon. 

———————————

Gintoki woke up at dawn with Hijikata’s naked body plastered on top of him. Man, the summer heat was not making this position comfortable, but Hijikata was clinging to him, his nose buried in the crook of his neck. His fingers found itself brushing his ward’s silky, black hair as he replayed the memories of last night. That was some serious lovemaking. 

His waking eyes discerned movement from outside the tent. “Gintoki, we need to talk.” It was Zura. He reluctantly pried himself away from Hijikata and scrambled to put some pants on before exiting the tent to greet his fellow general. Zura stood flanked by Takasugi and Sakamoto as an air of graveness hung over them.

“I found the body of the new recruit,” Zura began. “How could you slay one of our own?!” The anger in his tone was palpable. 

Gintoki bristled in indignation. “He was about to put his dirty paws on Toshi!”

Gintoki’s tactician shook his head in disappointment. How could the leader of the rebel army be so blinded by his emotions. “That kid is putting the entire war effort in jeopardy. If the soldiers knew their top commander was keeping an Amanto as his pet, they’d grow confused. It would be a blow to morale. The camp is already growing unfocused with the smell of the brat in the air. And honestly, you are, too.”

Gintoki clenched his jaw, but he didn’t say a word. He knew it was the truth. 

“You have to leave the kid, Gintoki.” This wasn’t up for debate. Gin’s eyes glanced at the other generals.

Takasugi didn’t even bother returning his gaze. “You know what you have to do.” 

Sakamoto looked somber as he shook his head in defeat. “Sorry, Gin. I’m with them on this one.”

The silver-haired soldier turned his back to his generals and returned to the tent without another word. He sank to his knees and watched the sleeping face of Hijikata. He looked so peaceful blanketed by Gin’s white haori. 

Gintoki quickly dressed Hijikata in his yukata and gathered his things. Surprisingly, the halfling hadn’t woken up as his master manhandled him onto the horse. From dawn till dusk, they rode deep into the countryside where the war had not yet plundered. 

Finally, Gintoki reached the worn down doors of the dojo spoken of by one of his most trusted soldiers. He was told that the master was strict but kind underneath his tough exterior. He jumped off the horse with the slumbering Hijikata in his arms. Gently, he placed Hijikata against the side of the dojo. 

The darkened clouds cast a somber shadow on his ward’s face. A feeling seized Gintoki’s heart, begging him to not abandon Hijikata like this. There had to be another way. But the thing about war was that it wore down even the most hopeful of people. He didn’t want a fate similar to what happened to his own master befall Hijikata. This was for his own good. 

That was what he kept telling himself to silence the voice begging Gintoki to not do this. Quietly, he set his student’s sword by his side. He shed off his haori and placed it around Hijikata’s shoulders and padded the coin purse inside the sleeve. It wasn’t much, but it was his entire savings. This should keep Hijikata fed, for at least a little bit. 

He couldn’t stop his fingers from reaching out to Hijikata one last time to place a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “This is for your own good. You’ll be safe here.” Before his cowardice could take back the reins, he banged his fists against the door. Swallowing his hesitation, he jumped onto the horse and rode away into the forest before anyone could see him. His peripheral vision caught the site of a gorilla-like man opening the doors of the dojo to find the slumbering black-haired boy. 

Droplets of rain pelted his face as he rode into the night. The rain cried for him since he had no tears left to cry. 

——————————————-

_Ten years later_

Hijikata woke with the crack of dawn at the Shinsengumi headquarters. He repeated the same morning routine he had for years: stretch, smoke a cigarette, brush his teeth, and get dressed. 

He combed his hair, feeling his phantom cat ears twitch. Through a lot of training and teeth-pulling meditation over the past decade, he had finally managed to hide his ears and tail through sheer willpower alone. Although, it still popped out during times of major stress. And Sougo, being the only one of the few who knew his true genetic makeup, always tried to keep him on his toes with those damned bazooka drills. Thanks to that, nothing could shake him now.

Just as he was about to tie the cravat around his neck and finish the knot, his fingers brushed against the raised scar from his first and only night with _him._ The bite mark still sent a tingle down his spine. It had been more than a decade yet the ache for Gintoki never left his chest. It would squeeze his heart everyday like a vine. 

‘Don’t go where I can’t follow, _my ass,’_ thought Hijikata bitterly. ‘ _You’re_ the one who abandoned me.’ 

But his mind could not deny his heart. That traitorous muscle still yearned for Gintoki. But he ejected such yearnings out of his head. He had a job to do. 

The monotonous routine made the days as a police officer pass very quickly. Hours were lost in the humdrum of things. Soon enough the sun took its treasured position in the sky, beating down on the occupants of Edo with its heated glare akin to an unforgiving mother-in-law. 

A blip from his radio startled him. “Hey, Hijikata-san. I just saw our target run into Kabukicho, but I’m finishing up my ramen right now so you chase after her.”

“What the fuck, Sougo?! Follow the suspect or commit seppuku right now!!” Hijikata yelled into the device, unconcerned with the pedestrians staring at him. Sougo didn’t even care to reply so it was up to Hijikata to chase down the target. 

Luckily enough, he was close to Kabukicho, so he made a quick dash through the streets. His eyes caught suspicious movement from the dark alleyways and his instincts told him to follow the target. Like a battering ram, he charged in headfirst, slamming into the mysterious figure. He shoved the suspect against the worn down brick walls. 

“You’re under arrest as a suspect in several burglaries,” Hijikata began. “You have the right to remain silent.”

“Well, well, well...” came a voice too confident for someone being arrested.

“How would the citizens of Edo react when they discover that the Vice Chief of the Shinsengumi is an Amanto _just like me?”_

Hijikata’s blood froze as he took a good look at the perpetrator. Sitting atop a black bob haircut was a pair of tan cat ears. Just. Like. His. 

“I’ll add slander to your list of crimes if you don’t shut up right now,” his grasp tightened painfully.

“Well, your smell isn’t too strong. You must be a half-breed but I have no doubt that you’re one of us.”

Hijikata swallowed the fear creeping up his throat. The only people in all of Edo who knew were Kondo and Sougo. Was she trying to blackmail him into letting her go? He couldn’t bear the thought of such shame casting a shadow over the Shinsengumi. 

The cat burglar sniffed again and smirked. “Wow, you’re a male omega, too. That’s rare even back in our planet.”

Irritation flashed across his face. He didn’t like the fact that she had said “our” like he belonged to some unknown star in this galaxy. Earth was his one and only home. 

“What the _hell_ is an omega?” He asked as if they were in the interrogation room with him playing the bad cop.

Ignoring the question, she instead asked, “where’s your mate?”

“My _what?_ ”

“Your mate. The one who you bound yourself to. It’s why your smell is so muted. He already staked his claim over you so that’s why you don’t give off pheromones. Trust me, you would know. Everyone in a mile radius would figure out that you were an omega, especially if you started your heat.”

Confused silence filled the empty air. 

“The fact that you don’t know what I’m talking about means either the fact that you’re dumb as hell or proves that you’re already mated. You probably only had your first heat when you became bound to your mate. That’s why you haven’t had any heat since. Your body is still waiting for your alpha.”

The telltale sound of a click and the flash of a smile showed Hijikata that he had just been played. The thief’s explanation bought her enough time to weasel her way out of the handcuffs and escape with a mocking laugh. 

“My name is Catherine by the way! See you later, Officer.”

“STOP!!!” Hijikata’s footfalls pounded across the dirty pavement as he chased after her, running out of the alley and back into the crowded streets. Shit! His suspect easily blended back into the horde of civilians as the Vice Chief stumbled into the crowd like a newborn fawn. 

FUCK! He caught one last glimpse of cat ears before he gave chase. That plan didn’t work out very well as he immediately crashed into an unsuspecting pedestrian. He landed on his ass with a painful thud, losing track of Catherine for good. 

“Oi, watch where you’re going, you tax-stealing, government dog!!! You could have almost killed m—“ a too familiar voice called out, stopping as soon as his eyes landed on Hijikata. 

_“T-Toshi?”_

Hijikata could barely push out a weak “G-Gin” before he was wrapped in a breathtaking embrace by the man he had called ‘master’ over ten years ago. 

Gintoki breathed desperately into his ear as he squeezed Hijikata even tighter in his embrace. “I can’t believe it. It’s really you.” 

The silver-haired samurai burrowed his nose into Hijikata’s hair, relishing in his warmth. “I never stopped looking for you, Toshi.”

Hijikata’s chest _burned_ with the tumult of emotions that raged within him. Happiness. Anger. Confusion. But all of that paled in comparison to the relief flooding through him when he inhaled the comforting scent of his master after all these years. Gintoki was without a doubt his mate. But that didn’t mean the black-haired samurai was pissed beyond belief that this fucker had left him back then!!

Forgetting that he was in public, he reached one arm around Gintoki and threw him to the ground like a sad sack of potatoes. In the blink of an eye, Hijikata stood menacingly with a sword held at the white-haired samurai’s throat. He wasn’t the little cat-boy at his master’s beck and call anymore. In his fury, he hadn’t realized his feline ears and tail sprung up in full display. 

A young bespectacled boy and red-haired girl tried to jump from the crowd to save Gin, but the brazen man held his hand up to stop them. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down his throat as he tentatively guided Hijikata’s sword away from his throat. 

Hijikata's blue eyes burned “You--you _abandoned_ me, you bastard.”

A plethora of emotions swelled within deep, red eyes. “I should have never left you, Toshi. And I will live with that regret for the rest of my life.”

Gintoki gingerly stood up and pushed away the shaking sword in Hijikata’s hand. He stepped closer. “I’m sorry, Toshi. I promise you that I will never leave you again.”

There it was. The words Hijikata had been wanting to hear since the day he had woken up without his master by his side. But only an idiot would make promises like that. 

Despite himself, Hijikata truly believed in Gintoki’s words. Guess he was even a bigger idiot for doing so. 

“I’ve missed you.” Hijikata was the one to close the gap this time. That yearning inside his heart finally dissolved to be replaced with a feeling of deep security that only came from loving Gintoki as much as he did.

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys wanna chat or get updates about my next fics, follow me on twitter @luckystars1015


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